There’s been talk of another red scare on this campus and I assure you it’s true. The committee that brought you “Go Be Red” is at it again, but this time it involves a bigger and better student concentration at the heart of our athletics, or should I say gulag, of sports. I introduce to you: “The Red Army.”
While “Go Be Red” successfully increased student interest in our athletic competitions by offering thousands of dollars in incentives and a fully-paid spring break vacation to our rowdiest fans, our students found that the prizes didn’t mean all that much in the end. Our top teams formed a passion for being the loudest fans at our games, and they developed new friendships through the competition. Our top two teams—the Banana Slug Muffins and the Ramrods—are impossible to tell apart. One would expect the two biggest rivals to distance themselves from one another. Instead, they take pride in collaborating with chants and cheers. It’s clear to see they love our school and take pride in their peers on the turf and ice.
Our Go Be Red Committee learned a major lesson from this. By simply bringing students together we discovered how much fun chanting, cheering, jeering, and heckling can be in intercollegiate athletics. The addicting nature of these ovations fostered more energy and spirit than we ever could have by touting money and prizes.
So get ready to satisfy your urge to jump up and down, cheer until your muscles ache, and shout until your throat is Rensselaer red. The Red Army will be joining us next fall as a premier student group whose primary goal is to support RPI athletics by making sure they’re heard loud and clear. The group’s membership of at least 75 students will have exclusive seating at sporting events so they can make sure the Engineers, and the visiting team, know that they are playing in RPI’s house. We’ve already bought out the entirety of “Section 33” in the Houston Field House and stadium seating will be roped off on the ’86 and Harkness Fields. Students who join the group for a $30 membership fee will receive season hockey tickets, reserved seating at non-revenue generating sports, an official shirt, transportation to major away-games, invites to tailgating parties, a weekly Red Army newsletter, giveaways and other priority perks. Pushing the limits of loyalty on game day never sounded so appealing!
With the masterful programming of our student Go Be Red Committee here to stay, you can bet school spirit and pride in Rensselaer will continue to grow for years to come. I can only wait for the day the USA Hockey Magazine ranks the Houston Field House one of the most difficult college stadiums for a visiting team to play in.
Personally, I can think of no better way to get there than through The Red Army’s infiltration. Hail to the Red!
